Best Truck Tires under $500/set

Not totally motorsport related, but I am looking for a new set of truck tires. Moving to Colorado to work with the Forest Service so I think A/T tires are the ones to get. I found a set of Kelly A/T tires in my price range but I have never heard of them, but I believe they are made by Goodyear.

Any other tires?

This is for a 1992 Chevy C2500. 245/75/16, I rarely tow, but sometimes.

I put Coopers on my BMW I think the were the ATP. Discount tire has $100 of and a $70 rebate on Ebay. If i recall correctly they were ~$420 delivered in 265-70-17. I think the deal ends today. Might want to take a look.

If you get on that DTD sale, you could get something decent for that price. Otherwise, $500 is going to stick you with pretty cheap tires. $600 - 700 would get something nicer.

Cooper Discovery A/T.

I have the H/T version on the Suburban and unless I was into serious offroading I'd actually stick with that just to be a bit quieter and better at everything but off road crawling.

In reply to KyAllroad:

I have the Cooper Discoverer A/Ts on it atm, well on the front. The tread separated a few years ago on the rears. But this $100 off sale could be the ticket. Thanks!

Firestone Destination A/T. One of the top rated on Tirerack. I had them on my previous Tacoma 4x4 Dbl Cab. Smooth highway ride. In your size for $508 plus shipping. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Destination+A%2FT&sidewall=Outlined White Letters&partnum=475SR6DESTATOWL&tab=Sizes

Is load range E necessary if I think I will only be towing rarely?

In reply to fritzsch:

FYI - Most tire stores will not put a tire rated less than Load E on a 2500 truck.

I have had treadwright tires on 2 trucks now and have been pleased with them. In your size the AT's E loads are right at $480 before tax with free shipping.

Treadwright Wardens

fritzsch wrote: Is load range E necessary if I think I will only be towing rarely?

Unless you want to significantly de-rate the truck's max payload, yes, you probably do. Load range C or D might let you keep most of your payload, but make sure that the tire's weight rating is at least 60% of the max rear axle weight (to give some safety margin) if you don't want to give up capability.

In reply to fritzsch:

My thinking is that yes, if you are not going to use the capability of the truck, then you can go with a lower rated tire. But then why do you have a 2500 and not a 1500?

In reply to bravenrace:

Truck was passed down to me. But I am going to get some load range E tires. Probably HANKOOK DYNAPRO ATM at $504 after the discount

Do you do much hauling/towing? Do you need E-range tires?

I have cooper AT3 (seem very similar to ATP?) on my suburban in 265/75/16 and they are reasonably quiet for an AT. I would say I'm reasonably happy with them, but the General Grabber AT2 I just put on my subaru are awesome.

Definitely try to take advantage of the DTD ebay $100 off deal.

Thinking about it, the E rated tires are better off-road too. Sometimes the tread is a bit deeper than the non-LT versions of the same tire. And they'll have beefier sidewalls and such that are harder to tear.

fritzsch wrote: In reply to bravenrace: Truck was passed down to me. But I am going to get some load range E tires. Probably HANKOOK DYNAPRO ATM at $504 after the discount

those are nice tires. i put a set on the avalanche last year and liked them enough to keep them when i traded it in last week.

Tires are one of the things you don't want to cheap out on, especially if the forest service is going to have you driving into the middle of nowhere.

The Forest Service there doesn't have trucks for you to use? I would imagine you want a good A/T and some chains depending on where you're at in CO.

If you want to spring for something a little nicer, you can use the DTD ebay coupon twice on separate transactions of $400 or greater. an $800 set of tires becomes $600. Really good deal.

Forgot about the $70 Cooper rebate, which means I can do either the Cooper Discoverer AT3 for $486 or the Hankook Dynapro ATM for $504.

I've used the Coopers before and I like them, but at the same time, they also broke on me several years ago. The Hankooks look a bit more aggressive and I will be doing a fair bit of highway driving as well.

In reply to crankwalk:

They do, Fire trucks to be exact! But on my off days I want to do camping and fishing and it will be a fair bit of dirt roads. About 50 miles west of Co. Springs

Hmm... If you're looking for more aggressive, but still usable in snow and not obnoxious on the road (so not M/Ts), what about Duratracs? Discount Tire Direct lists them at $192 each, with $25 off per tire and a $40 rebate on the set and free shipping for the 245/75R16 load range E. That comes to $628 total for a set. A little more than the others, but not bad, and they're known for being very good in snow and probably the most aggressive A/T you can get (and most aggressive thing that's not annoying on the street).

fritzsch wrote: In reply to crankwalk: They do, Fire trucks to be exact! But on my off days I want to do camping and fishing and it will be a fair bit of dirt roads. About 50 miles west of Co. Springs

Ahh I thought they were making folks use their own trucks for that kind of stuff now. Times are hard after all

My bet would be the Coopers. I have BFG Mud Terrains in 35x12.50 and I have some chains when needed. I honestly think a 33 in GOOD A/T is my next tire for year round.

I've been very pleased with the General Grabber AT2 I have on my Suburban. Not sure if they are cheap enough, but when I bought them a few years ago they were much less than the BFG and Michelins.